Despite facing stiff competition from a handful of horror releases during the course of its theatrical run, IFC’sLate Night with the Devilhas emerged as an unlikely box office hit.This weekend— its fourth at the domestic box office — the horror movie grossed $440,000 from around 600 domestic theaters, pushing its global box office haul past the $10 million mark. Directed byColin CairnesandCameron Cairnes, the film opened to terrific reviews, andwill debut on the Shudder streaming servicein a matter of days.
Late Night with the Devilhas generated $9.3 million domestically, and another $860,000 from overseas markets, fora combined global haul of $10.1 million. The movie delivered the best-ever domestic box office debut for an IFC title, when it generated $2.8 million from just over 1,000 theaters in its first weekend.Late Night with the Devilgrossed $2.1 million in its second weekend, expanding its theatrical footprint to over 1,400 locations, and followed it up with around $1 million in its third weekend. It is currently the 27th highest-grossing IFC movie at the worldwide box office, behindFrances HaandLooking for Eric.
Starringthe underratedDavid Dastmalchianas a late night talk show host who invites a seemingly possessed girl to boost ratings, the movie was met with positive critical reception after its debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March. Itholds a spectacular 97% approval rating on the aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, which is practically unheard of for a modern horror picture. It was equally beloved by fans; the film’s audience score on RT stands at 82%.In his review, Collider’sChase Hutchinsondescribed it as a “frequently sinister if occasionally slight genre flick,” and praisedDastmalchian’s central performanceas the ambitious talk show host.
‘Late Night with the Devil’ Puts a Fresh Spin on Found Footage Films
During the course of its theatrical run,Late Night with the Devilcompeted for attention against a host of fellow horror titles such as Blumhouse’sImaginary, the nunsploitation filmImmaculate, and most recently, the legacy prequelThe First Omen. It remains the lowest-grossing but highest-rated film of the bunch. The movie has also been praised for re-igniting interest in the demonic possession sub-genre of horror, and for puttinga fresh spin on dormant found-footage tropes. Also starringLaura Gordon,Ian Bliss, andFayssal Bazzi,Late Night with the Devilwill debut on Shudder on April 19. You can watch the film in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Late Night With the Devil
A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.
